Friday, January 12, 2007

sales pitch book

The most dynamic, personalized, and mysterious and closely-guarded aspect of a sales call, or any persuasive presentation, is what they call a pitch book, or sales pitch book. It is also goes by the name of presentation portfolio.

It's a low tech format for any type of physical or consultative sales situation. It can be used in lieu of, or as a supplement to, the standard business briefcase, where you keep your turkey and hummus sandwich, your iPod, address book, notepad, stopwatch, Tom Peters book, and Runts.

Try Googling pitch book or sales pitch book or sales pitch. Salespeople take them everywhere they go, since you never know when you might run into someone who needs your products.

There's basically nothing to be found on the internet concerning this obscure topic of the sales pitch book, except some strange PDF files. Adobe is currently under attack by worm and virus malware makers, it's NOT SAFE to open unfamiliar PDF files.

Do not open any strange, unfamiliar, random PDF files.

Sales guys and gals use pitch books, and have been using them for decades, but nobody's spilling the beans on what they put in them.

Your pal Vaspers will tell you.

If you view lots of sales pitches, you could keep track of what they put in the pitch books, and how they're used in the sales presentation, then have a valuable book or white paper or podcast on the topic.

All sales managers, trainers, and representatives should consider using a sales pitch book. Always. It's a classy leather vehicle for conveying your message. It's a physical symbol of what you sell. The investment bank sales forces use them. There is surely a way the sales pitch book can be used by virtually any sales or persuasive person who consults one-on-one or in a small intimate group.

You use the sales pitch book to rivet the attention of your hot prospect. You want the fresh new leather, the crisp plastic sheet protectors, the inserts, the total experience and event to shine and sparkle and hold the viewer's attention.

It's a visual aid. That's all. Not a regimentation. Not a memorization. Not a hasty rushing through a dry and boring spiel.

You use a sales pitch book to illustrate your points, and your sales drive must be based on massive information on the prospect, intense research and study of their customers, market, and industry.

You position yourself as The Expert on one or two things that are extremely mission critical to a given individual prospect. Like web usability and ecommerce. Or whatever two or three things your company represents, the most desired benefits that your products achieve for your customers.

Here's the Secret Information that nobody else reveals:

In the file compartment of your sales pitch book, you should carry several copies of reports, white papers, blog posts, press clippings, brochures, sales literature, catalogs, price and spec sheets, promotional items like pens and CD tutorials, and other material related to your company, or information of value to your customers. This material should be branded with your company logo and contact information in appropriate cases, and given out abundantly to clients, suppliers, prospects, network groups, peers, and colleagues.

Carry extra business cards in it. Your cell phone. A note pad. A pen and backup pen (in case one runs out of ink). A roll of emergency mints. Some toll booth change. A little emergency cash, up to $100, in a secret pocket you have a leather worker sew in for you.

Buy the best, the most expensive one you can find, buying new ones every 6 months, to maintain that fresh cream leather appearance.

Mine is a Wenger, Maker of the Genuine Swiss Army Knife. (I went to the web site, and could not find my bag/portfolio listed. All I saw under bags/portfolios were computer cases, none of them all leather. And mine's not a computer case, it's what they themselves call a Pro-Folio.)